You've probably seen a video or two about the Porsche 911 Sport Classic already. If not (or heck, even if you have), check this video out. Some great driving footage and a few closeups of the car.

For those of you who don't already know about the Porsche 911 Sport Classic, it promises to bring back the mystique and wonder of the legendary Carrera RS 2.7 from the 70's. Duck tail and all. The new Sport Classic will have 403 horses on tap, carbon ceramic brakes behind special Fuchs-style 19" wheels (similar to the 70's and 80's 911SC cars), lowered ride height courtesy of PASM sport suspension, and some great interior touches.

Probably the most important thing for Porsche 911 Sport Classic owners will be the limited production run of just 250 cars. That pretty much guarantees we won't be seeing any of these on the street, but will instead visit them in museums. I suppose that's fitting of a $240k base price Porsche. A bit sad though.

I have to throw this out there as an afterthought. In one of the videos, Porsche threw in the tag line "Unique Yourself". I wonder if they came up with that after watching How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, from the whole "Frost Yourself" campaign? Guess there's a few closet chick flick lovers in Porsche's marketing group.

Porsche Type 64 on it's way to the States – I hadn't realized it, but for the first time ever, Porsche Type 64 is leaving German soil. It will be part of the "Allure of the Automobile" exhibit Porsche is sponsoring in Atlanta. The exhibit runs from March 21 thru June 20, 2010. This presents potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see what began it all at a location more close to home. Trying to figure out how to get there to see it myself. [Via PaddockTalk.com]

Porsche to hit the Endangered Species list – Unfortunately it's not looking good for Porsche come 2016 here in the States. A new law could go into effect this May that would require all auto manufacturers to have a Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) of 41.4 mpg. This would impact models as soon as 2012. Porsche supposedly has a reprieve thru 2015, but after that…who knows. Another interesting one to watch. [Via TheTruthAboutCars.com]

Uwe Gemballa still missing, but the mystery is starting to come to resolution – Here's what one blog had to say about new information surrounding Gemballa's disappearance:

First came reports that the authorities had raided the Gemballa headquarters and seized the cars on the premises. Now further reports indicate that shortly before his disappearance, Uwe set up a second company with his 79-year-old mother as the sole shareholder, and granted his wife power of attorney to declare the principle company insolvent. The plot keeps thickening, and we doubt this will be the last we've heard of Gemballa and his trouble with the law.

Looks like there's more to it than meets the eye. So far, I don't know that anyone has the complete story, but will be interesting to see how this pans out. Too bad. Gemballa was a great tuner with some serious talent. [Via Luxist.com]

Other interesting articles worth reading:

• 1978 Porsche 935/78 "Moby Dick" – Great documentary about the 1978 Porsche 935/78 fielded in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Read it here: Automotive.Speed.tv.
• First Drive: 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo – A pretty good writeup of the 911 Turbo from a winter drive point of view. Read it here: NationalPost.com.

Steve, one of our PorschePerfect.com readers, sent me a link to a Motor Trend article this past week. MT decided to do a comparison between the 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder and the 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport. I have to say, this one was a bit surprising for a number of reasons. I'll admit that my first reaction was, "Crap! Can the Boxster Spyder take the Tesla?"

Even though I think you should read the article, I'll spoil it for you. First Place: 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder. In Steve's words, "Ultimately, the Boxster rocked and is a beautiful car." Exactly.

Turns out car enthusiasts love cars not just for speed, but the sounds and feedback they emit in the process of going fast. The two biggest complaints stacked against the Tesla Roadster from the video as well as the write-up were limited feedback on the track and the lack of the thrilling sound a finely tuned sports car should make.

What's interesting, though, is the fact that the Tesla Roadster has finally reached an iteration that is starting to command the attention of the big boys of the auto journalism world. The fact that MT found it to be a worthy competitor of Porsche's new Boxster Spyder pays a huge compliment to Tesla and gives us a glimpse of what's to come, not only from Tesla, but other alternative fuel/power driven sports cars to come.

The article is definitely worth reading. Watch the video too, but I'll warn you, Kim, one of the guys in the video is one boring dude on camera. That guy is a good writer, but come on, couldn't they cast the on camera crew a bit better? It was like watching that DIY 356 electric conversion guy talk about his car. Painful. Worth watching to see/hear the Tesla…and the Boxster Spyder for that matter!

Check out the video below.

Here's a link to the article: Comparison: 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport vs 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder

[Source, Image & Video: MotorTrend.com]

TECHART announced the GTStreet R based on the Porsche 911 Turbo yesterday. In true Porsche 911 Turbo fashion, the same mystique that has always held a special place in people's hearts since 1974, has been captured by TECHART in their latest interpretation. I simply LOVE the black with red accents. I was just mentioning to someone yesterday that there is something crazy sweet about black sports cars, especially when they have racing red sprinkled tastefully here and there.

The GTStreet R is designed for pure driving pleasure as well as full on-track capability. To accomplish this, they've designed a number of features that can be adjusted to desired handling, ride and performance situations as needed. For instance, they've included an adjustable rear spoiler with air inlets that work in tandem with the integrated carbon diffuser in the rear apron to contribute a huge amount of downthrust on the rear axle.

Although not new, but handy track/off-track feature is an adjustable chassis height allowing a driver to adjust based on road conditions as well as performance requirements. This also includes a nose-lift system capable of raising the vehicle just at the front axle up to 60 mm. That's a body kit saver right there.

Another included enhancement is a TECHART designed multifunctional day-driving light system integrated into the front apron. This system provides better lighting in both day and night conditions with the output intensity of light being automatically modified with the selected driving light circuit.

TECHART has fitted new Formula 5-spoke light alloy wheels along with either Conti Sport Contact 3 or Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Plus tires. They've also done a fair amount in addition to the body kit items already mentioned.

Enough of that though. Let's get down to 2 very important items: Performance and Interior. How your butt's going to feel in that seat and how your brain's gonna feel when you hit the gas.

As for performance, aside from the external enhancements to the body and the wheels/tires, the engine has been boosted to 660 hp. This provides for 0 to 62 mph times in the 3.5 second range. Top speed is right at 214 mph. I guess that'll do.

The interior has plenty of the "custom" feel, without being crazy. Again, the black with red accents is dang cool. I'm a sucker for colored gauge faces and those red ones provide a nice compliment to the interior. There's also carbon fiber components, aluminum pedals, and some nice illumination points to enhance the interior. Of course you can also hand over a blank check and customize things to the Nth degree.

Overall, I think the car looks classy, race-track bound, and very desirable. TECHART has taken a car that I've loved for years and provided some enhancements that do the 911 Turbo line proud. The GTStreet R will be on display next month at the Geneva Auto Show. If anyone goes, you HAVE to send in pictures.

[Source & Images: Press.Techart.de]

Tempting Porsche #1

I'm continually amazed at the prices of 944 Turbos these days. If you find a decent one, that hasn't been abused like so many 944s have, you can have yourself one heck of a car with a lot of power for not a lot of cash. This brings us to the first Tempting Porsche for today. It's a 1987 Porsche 944 Turbo. Guards Red (a must have color) with black interior. It's got 140k miles on it.

Here's some info from the Craigslist ad:

1987 Porsche 944 Turbo. 140xxx freeway miles, 5 speed. Guards red with black leather interior. Very fast and fun to drive! Autothority stage 2 chips new front engine reseal with water pump, cam housing reseal with new lifters and new timing belt and rollers. Paint in good condition, only minor flaws, the car has spent all its life in a garage and has been babied. The interior is in excellent shape only a couple very minor cracks on the passenger side of the dash, otherwise in perfect condition Has a nice Kenwood cd player with I pod jack, and Bluetooth ready, 6 disc cd changer. The previous owner had the car for 13 years and was a Porsche technician. It is all stock accept for the pads/rotors and chips. I have 2 sets of wheels and tires for the car as well, and the factory car cover from Porsche, as well as all the maintenance records dating back to 1990.

Asking Price: $8900

I think this could be a great car at a great price. I passed a 944 on the road the other day and found myself reminiscing about my buddy's 944 from the late 80's. I'd love to own one some day and a 944 Turbo would probably be my choice.

Tempting Porsche #2

The second Tempting Porsche today is a Guards Red 911 Carrera Targa. It's a 1985 with just over 91k miles on it. Looks like a nice car. Here are some specs from the Craigslist ad:

91,078. miles, RED with Black Leather Interior, Nicest one in town, NO Damage History, Very Nice, We are the second owners. This has been my wife's car for the last 7 yrs and was driven only on sunny Sundays every once in a while. Has perfect maintenance, ALWAYS garaged, New clutch and rebuilt transmission, New tires and brakes. Absolutely the nicest one around. Garaged and flawless. Divorce forces sale.

Asking Price: $11488

Not a bad price given the other cars I've seen online the past few months with similar miles and time period. At least this one didn't get beat to crap over the divorce (at least not visibly). As much as I love the whale tail on the 911 Turbo, I've never been a big fan of the tea tray spoiler. Always seemed a bit out of place to me without the flared fenders. This is a nice looking car though.

For those of you who haven't yet submitted your entry into our latest PorschePerfect.com Giveaway, you have less than a week to do so. Entering is easy. All you need to do is submit your name suggestion for Brad's Project Roxster here: New PorschePerfect.com Giveaway.

You can see the entries on that page and also see the giveaway rules.

As a little pitch for upcoming months, we have 3 more giveaways lined up so far. We've got some cool products we're going to giveaway from sponsors, so you'll want to take part in those. By the way, we don't limit who can win or how many times a person can win. So don't think that you need to save your entries for something you really want.

I ran across the Gemballa Avalanche GTR 650 EVO-R Wingdoor version on the Gemballa site a week or so ago. I'd seen the GTR 650, but had not seen the Wingdoor facelift. I'm not sure what it is about funky door hinges, but I love 'em. It could be a combo of the Lamborghini Countach's vertical doors and the Delorean's gull wing doors from the 80's that started this love affair with something other than standard doors. I'd actually drive either one of those cars purely for the doors.

I even saw a Dodge Magnum (I drove a Magnum SRT8 for about a year and half) one night at a store with vertical doors of sorts. They were a little clunky looking in that they shifted out, then lifted up. Not the sweet Lamborghini vertical setup. Still got me to staring though.

You can imagine, then, how the Wingdoor version of the Avalanche GTR 650 caught my attention. Never seen anything but the stand doors on a 911 based car before.

For those of you not familiar with the GTR 650, it's a combination of some serious external treatments, extensive performance enhancements and the usual Gemballa driven internal upgrades. The base upgrade boosts engine output to 650 hp. This brings 0 to 62 mph times down to 3.4 seconds with a top speed of 206 mph! If that isn't enough for you additional enhancements can take your ride up to 800 hp.

Of course other upgrades enhance road handling such as new wheel/tire combos, a high-performance braking system, and modified running gear. On the inside, Gemballa calls their treatment a VIP lounge. I think it looks classy and inviting. I love the combo leather/suede treatment of the seats and it looks like the doors as well.

Check out Gemballa.com for more pictures and info.

[Source & Images: Press.Gemballa.com]

Uwe Gemballa kidnapped? – German police are fearing the worst for Gemballa's founder, Uwe Gemballa. He went missing last week while in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was supposed to be there for 3 days to discuss expanding Gemballa into the country. A German car site, GTspirit.com, reported Uwe phoned his wife shortly after arriving in South Africa asking her to wire a million-euro ransom to a bank account. Evidently there are several suspects including a fugitive from the Czech Republic. Anyone know the latest on Uwe Gemballa? If so, throw it in the comments. [Via Timeslive.co.za]

Porsche releases Panamera V-6 version – You probably have already seen this, but I thought I'd throw it in just in case some haven't. Porsche recently announced a more fuel efficient Panamera 6-cylinder version. It will have a 3.7-liter engine producing 300 hp. The other cool thing is a more enticing entry price starting at $74,400. That's $25k less than the previous Panamera version. Even with the reduced hp, it still won't be a slouch. [Via Examiner.com]

Porsche Panamera/928 concept car – I love seeing people's renditions of what they envision a Porsche 928 GT type replacement being. A member of the Teamspeed Forums named Wild-Speed came up with the concept car pictured to the right. I have to say, this is one of my favorites to date. Takes some of the great lines of the Panamera and adds a bit of the 928 style to it. Would be a great car if it came about. [Via TeamSpeed.com]

New Porsche Cayenne shows up on Porsche's site – Luxvelocity posted a screen shot of what it thinks is a future model Cayenne or possible the Roxster. You can see it to the right. It does look a bit smaller than the current Cayenne, but it's tough to tell. If you want to see it for yourself, go to Porsche.com, Select USA, then Build Your Porsche. See what you think. [Via Luxvelocity.typepad.com]

Just a warning, this is inappropriate for the die hard Porsche enthusiast in general, and DEFINITELY for any Porsche 924 lovers that still exist in the world. Really, this probably doesn't belong on a blog dedicated to Porsche cars, but I couldn't help myself. Maybe there's a little backwoods hick in me after all.